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The McGovern Manifesto- 11th Hour

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Old 10-25-2013, 07:31 PM   #89
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Re: The McGovern Manifesto- 11th Hour

Flashback to the day of Game one at Frank White's house...

George McGovern- I thought I could trust you...

Behind the unknown man, George noticed Ned Yost placing an unconscious Frank White into a chair. His focus gradually went from Yost to the gun. The owner of the gun pulled the lever and jammed it against McGovern's forehead.

Unknown-Well you should've thought twice...

McGovern- Why are you doing this?

Unknown- Because we're tired of your interfering old man.

McGovern put his hands up as the gun remained pressed between his eyes.



McGovern-Go ahead punk... do it... I dare you!

The figure couldn't bring himself to do it...

Ned Yost- What are you waiting for? Finish him!

As the man held the gun to McGovern, McGovern becamed more relaxed and asked him:

McGovern- So was it you?

Unknown- What?

McGovern- You know, the one who leaked the route about Bo and Dayton in Toronto and set up the ambush?

Unknown- ... Yes. And I was also the one who gave J.J. the documents and I was the one who notified the trust of your existence.

McGovern- Why?

Unknown- Because I...

All of a sudden, Ned Yost interjected.

Ned Yost- ****! Bo's here, we gotta go!


Yost and the unknown figure took off towards the backdoor. George McGovern gathered himself and ran after the duo. As he stepped onto the back deck, McGovern watched as the pair ran into the scary woods.

McGovern- Into the scary woods I guess...

So amid lightning and rain, the elderly McGovern chased the pair into the woods...
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Old 10-26-2013, 11:16 AM   #90
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Re: The McGovern Manifesto- 11th Hour



Heading into Game 5, we got word that we'd be facing the Angels the day after tomorrow; a scary thought in itself. Mark Trumbo, Albert Pujols and that wretched Mike Trout would terrorize us through the entire series. It would be a complete and utter smack down.

Aside from the negatives facing us, we marched into Game 5 with that complete confidence. We had one of the best offenses in the postseason and we had Jon Lester who surely wouldn't bomb this outing.




On top of that, we had a sellout crowd who was itching for the season to continue. The field was already to go, the media were ready to see us put an end to our petty games with the Ms and we were ready to lay the smack down on the Mariners.

But then everything backfired and the tables turned quickly.



Jon Lester was practically booed off the mound tonight by allowing 5 runs in 3 innings. Joe Maddon came in with the quick hook and brought in Alex Wood who was lights out for the rest of the game.

When Lester allowed a 2 out home run to Jesus Montero, I knew we were in for some trouble but when he allowed 4 runs in the third is when the situation looked bleak.

Compared to the dude he was facing, Lester looked like he belonged in AAA.



Carlos Martinez is the type of guy that's the complete package. He has Yordano Ventura's stuff but pinpoint command and it was something we just couldn't overcome in the early innings. Martinez had us guessing all night long and it wasn't until he reached 80 pitches with 11 strikeouts in the 6th that we were able to start chipping away.

Eric Hosmer lead the charge and our offense worked feverishly to climb back into this thing. Unfortunately, we couldn't get the big hits when we needed to so this game rapidly dwindled on us.

We came within 1 base of tying the game in the 8th but we couldn't get it done. Another Jesus Montero homerun in the 9th off Aaron Crow was the dagger.



Surely this can't be right... Surely, the Seattle Mariners aren't celebrating their advancement... I mean surely we didn't just lose a 5 game series to Seattle right?

Oh but we did...
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Old 10-28-2013, 09:24 PM   #91
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Re: The McGovern Manifesto- 11th Hour





By: Bob Dutton

SPIRALING COLLAPSE
For the past 3 seasons, the hometown Royals have been recognized as the "Camelot of Baseball." The emergence of their young stars, their efforts in the draft and their success across all levels has stunned even the most salty baseball veteran. They've piled on the accolades while the new ownership has dumped truckloads of cash into the team. When Mr. Glass sold the team, isn't this what we as fans envisioned? Didn't we want to feel like it was the 80s again? Of course we did.

I wish I could sit here and read you a fairy tale ending to this latest era. Unfortunately, that just can't happen. The Royals were embarrassed this week by the Seattle Mariners and expelled from the playoffs in humiliating fashion. You can blame it on the pitching, you can blame it on the ice cool bats, or you can blame it on the front office. Sadly, for you, I and the entire baseball world, that's just a small sliver of the story. Those 25 players you followed year round are not who they appear to be. They embarrassed themselves and th game of baseball.

On the surface, they're the type of guys you want your kids to model themselves after. They're active in the community, they love kids and they're always happy to sign autographs. But behind that front, these Kansas City Royals are a disgrace to Franchise history. They complain about their paychecks, blame others for their mistakes and engage in fistfights in the clubhouse on seemingly a nightly basis. It was not always like this. So what happened? What on Earth changed the humbled Kansas City Royals? In order to find our answer, we must go back in time to this year's spring training, fresh off the World Series.

The roots of one of baseball's ugliest collapses can be found on the backfields at the team's training complex in Surprise, Arizona. The sun beat down on the Royals infielders as they took some groundballs off Eddie Rodriguez and Bud Black. Manager Joe Maddon stood against the fence watching the peaceful afternoon unfold. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Alcides Escobar nonchalantly walking towards the field (already late), wearing the wrong practice gear. As Escobar attempted to walk on the field, manager Joe Maddon confronted him about his tardiness. According to multiple sources, Alcides Escobar told his manager that "I almost won a Gold Glove last year" and that "I shouldn't have to do this (stuff)" Maddon in return just smiled and told Escobar "If you don't want it, fine with me. I've got 10 other guys ready to take your spot." Escobar marched onto the field and according to an unnamed player, "Displayed a poor attitude and revolting arrogance."

As beat writers, the incident didn't appear to have any lurching affects. As we'd come to find out, the effects of Maddon's subtle and professional discussion with Escobar would be long lasting. With players I interviewed directly for this piece I found that Escobar, upset with Maddon attempted to turn to team against the manager within days of the incident. The majority of the players found Escobar's gripe to be a distraction, however a select few silently agreed. It is generally viewed that at this time, clubhouse leader James Shields "lost complete and utter respect for Escobar."

After learning of the aforementioned incident, I thought Escobar could get over his beef for the greater good. Unfortunately, I was wrong and this single encounter essentially set the stage for a massive ticking time bomb that not even players nor front office personnel could predict. You must understand that at the time, an incident between a minor piece on the team and the manager wasn't exactly the biggest adversity event the team faced marching into the season. The team had just come off a world series victory and was now officially on the map as one of baseball's major franchises.

Dealing with a minor disagreement was nothing compared to the pressure the young Royals were facing as defending world champs. Each of the 25 guys wanted to be out there every game in theory. In practicality however, not all 25 could handle the pressure they were facing. Staring with center fielder Lorenzo Cain. For much of the year, Lorenzo Cain was hitting .300 but we forget that he hit under .200 until June. I spoke with several people familiar with Cain's early struggles and found that he was heavily frustrated. Finishing each year over .300 since 2013, it had been quite a while since Cain had a warm slice of humble pie.

During his painful stretch, Cain broke bats, smashed toilets and tossed TVs. On a cold night in early May, Joe Maddon thought that a day's rest would do him well. Frustrated with being benched, Cain watched the game in the clubhouse. Starter Jon Lester had yet another poor outing that night and entered the clubhouse quietly after the game. Cain, needing a way to release his frustrations took it out on Lester. According to my sources, I found that Cain challenged Lester to a fist fight which resulted in a broken arm for Lester. Cain felt better about himself but the damage was done. James Shields split the clubhouse between those had Lester's back and those who had Cain's back. It was this moment that changed the course of the Royals season.

Dominating the division for much of the year, the Royals lost their intensity. Pitchers worked on knuckle balls in their side sessions. Hitters were imitating others in the batting cage and the players were showing up whenever. Joe Maddon tried to get his guys to do the right thing but it just wouldn't happen. A select group of players adhered to Maddon's rules but for the most part, the players did whatever they pleased. I talked with sources who dealt with the situation and found that sometimes 9 guys and a handful of bullpen pitchers were all that took the field. The rest of the players were in the clubhouse, not even suited up. In game activities for these players included video games, driving up to the gas station and other crazy antics. By mid June, it was apparent to Joe Maddon and his staff that they had lost complete control of the clubhouse. Worse than what had happened in Boston 4 years prior.

While all these events began to accumulate, everyone seemed to sense something sinister going on behind the scenes. By stating "everyone", that entails everyone minus the front office. During the entire season, Vice President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman was nearly a ghost for the season and General Manager Dayton Moore was in the hospital. That left club president George McGovern at the reigns. McGovern blatantly ignored the club's problems and berated his staff and was mostly trying to stay hidden from some unforeseen danger. Several people associated with McGovern throughout the year classified him as "insane, meddling and ignorant." So while the Royals empire collapsed, George McGovern was still sticking to his guns and failing to adapt. The fact that when fonfrotned about the clubhouse issues, McGovern did nothing shows that he either didn't care about the team or that he felt it wasn't his problem to fix. McGovern had the chance to be the hero and save the Royals but he chose not to and now his franchise is in ruins. It would be that ignorance that allowed the trouble to continue and eventually pile up. If there ever was a person to blame for the collapse, it would be Club President George McGovern.

But the troubles didn't end there. Through July, several players began taking a dislike to the core players (Moose, Hos, Gordo, Salvy). Other players like Trevor Story were caught in the cross fire and became more and more distant from the team. Players began faking minor injuries as well leading up to the trade deadline so that they could remain in the same, relaxed situation. We cannot blame Joe Maddon for this, despite him being the manager. He did everything humanly possible to try to right the ship.

Heading into the latter months of the season, Joe Maddon benched Alcides Escobar, officially for his poor play. However it was deeper than that, Maddon benched Escobar for his lack of character and in an attempt to bring a positive attitude to the team. Unfortunately, that wound up doing more than good. Players began taking to Escobar's side and saying derogatory things themselves about Maddon. Gradually as the winds turned against Maddon, on the field results began to suffer as well. The Royals began falling apart leading to speculation that they would miss the playoffs and collapse.

Heading into the final month of the season, the Royals held out hope that everything would turn out all right. If there ever was any doubt by the players and coaches, it wasn't voiced. In the front office however, nearly everyone felt the air shifting against the Royals and according to meetings held by the Baseball Ops department, a trip to the ALCS would be the most the team was capable of. On the field, things began to shift as well. Taijuan Walker was mysteriously injured in Minnesota and Andrew Cashner suffered a tough injury. Slowly, but surely, the odds began to stack up against Kansas City.

The last series of the year was arguably the most crucial. The Royals were playing the rival Cleveland Indians at home. Standings wise, this was extremely insignificant. Morally, this would define the Royals season. The Royals came in with their typical cocky confidence and were brutally destroyed by the humbled Indians in a 4 game shootout. According to clubhouse attendants, only the players who truly cared were upset with the sweep and understood the implications; everyone else was indifferent. Looking at it with hindsight, this series was eerily similar to the ALDS. The Royals went into both series obviously overmatched but still had that same innocent cockiness about them and as a result, the Royals were humiliated in both series. In many eyes, this was where the final split occurred. The core group of players refused to rely on the others and it proved disastrous.

Fastforward to the ALDS where the media sessions were tense and the plane rides were awkward. Outside of the Royals core, pretty much everyone had given up on the year. There was no motivation; the team just wasn't hungry enough this year. In the ALDS, many thought the Royals could skate through with mediocre pitching and that their talented lineup could lead them. As we came to find out, the Royals (ho were seen as the favorites) completely collapsed under the pressure, the divisions and lackadaisical style of play.

It was only at the press conference following that humiliating game 5 loss that we began to realize that something else was going on behind the scenes. Covered in dirt and with tears in his eyes, one will never forget Salvador Perez's apology speech at the podium. In front of hundreds of media, Salvador Perez took the bullet for his team's shortcomings.

So now, what's next for the Royals? Surely George McGovern won't keep with the status quo right? The General consensus around baseball is that the Royals will reconstruct parts of their roster and coaching staff. Next season, questions galore will haunt their organization. Despite all the answers they might find, one central question will remain, can the Royals escape their demons or will they forever be haunted by the curse of 2015?
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Old 10-31-2013, 10:52 PM   #92
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Re: The McGovern Manifesto- 11th Hour

Tough loss man, especially with Lester screwing it up in the end. He has a bad habit of doing that, and that is one of the reasons I was mildly nonchalant about letting him go in my 'chise.
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Old 11-01-2013, 06:05 PM   #93
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Re: The McGovern Manifesto- 11th Hour

Quote:
Originally Posted by CameRoN0407
Tough loss man, especially with Lester screwing it up in the end. He has a bad habit of doing that, and that is one of the reasons I was mildly nonchalant about letting him go in my 'chise.
Yeah throwing big money at him was a mistake. At the time, I figured he was going to be able to compliment James Shields nicely but he's just eating big money right now. That's probably the last time I ever give a pitcher a 6 year deal.
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Old 11-01-2013, 06:20 PM   #94
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Re: The McGovern Manifesto- 11th Hour




Quote:
Originally Posted by George McGovern
I'm sure that by now you've all read the article by Mr. Dutton... whom I would like to thank for humiliating our organization.

I called this press conference to make several important announcements:

1. General Manager Andrew Friedman will not be returning after posting conduct detrimental to the organization. I George McGovern, will handle the baseball responsibilities next season.

2. Manager Joe Maddon has elected to retire rather than finish his tenure as Manager of the Kansas City Royals. A replacement has yet to be determined.

3. Come hell or high water, Bubba Starling will be manning center field for the Royals in 2015.

4. The Kansas City Royals will be restructured this offseason.

I will not accept any questions, that is the end of the press conference.
And with that, George McGovern walked from the podium through the doors of the conference room amid a massive volume of questions from the 30+ reporters present.

They haven't seen the last of George McGovern...
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Old 11-01-2013, 11:11 PM   #95
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Re: The McGovern Manifesto- 11th Hour

The McGovern Manifesto- The Last Ride
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